Pilate Submersible
"Sir! Enemy submarine surfacing off the port... what in God's name is THAT?!" :- Last words of Crewman Chang, MSS Octavian Tactical Analysis That Sinking Feeling: The Pilate is a deadly attack submarine, armed with badly oversized deck guns for tearing apart surface targets, a task at which the ship excels. Blood in the Water: A powerful pneumatic drill on the Pilate's ventral hull allows the ship to close against enemy vessels and breach their hull while still submerged, though this weapon cannot be employed against surface targets. Bonk!: By firing a specially focused magnetic torpedo, the Pilate can create a magnetic singularity focused on an enemy vessel, drawing in nearby enemy units. Background Briefing Report for the Grand Council: Orichalcum and Applications ''Authors: Master of the Forges Erik Svensgaard, Abbot William Pollard, Master Shipwright Masoko Okamura ''In recent months, the organization known as the Confederate Revolutionaries discovered a remarkable quirk of physics and metallurgy. They have discovered an extremely interesting way to dramatically increase the efficiency and velocity of rotating metal - such as, say, gears or drills. While it's nothing to break the laws of physics, the scope of the efficiency increase is hard to understate. The necessary component is a particular isotope of iron that the Confederates have christened ''"Spiral Metal". A low-priority message from a member of the Chamber Unseen in the research firm responsible for the discovery alerted us to the technology, and its applications. This isotope's properties only become "active" when subjected to significant angular velocity. Or in laymen's terms, when spun. To date, the Confederate Revolutionaries have primarily set about using their discovery for drills and various military applications. This discovery offers so much more to us. Preliminary tests have confirmed the isotope's properties, and that a significant amount of the waste iron produced by the Talon Steel forging process can, with proper etheric treatment, benefit from these same properties. ''The potential of this metal, which the artificers have taken to calling Orichalcum, is all but limitless in concert with Talon Steel. Orichalcum gears are orders of magnitude more efficient than anything yet designed, and the potential for improved power transfer is staggering. Even more amazing, however, is the aforementioned etheric treatment of waste slag. This iron is not true Orichalcum, but when subjected to proper etheric conditions, it behaves much like the true metal. This is something of a relief, as our need for Orichalcum would otherwise dearly threaten what we believe to be a limited quantity of Orichalcum on the Earth. However, telemetry from Soviet and Allied deep space survey probes indicate that Orichalcum may be common in asteroids and on the Moon. Please see the attached report for hypothetical means of gaining access to these deposits. As it stands, we are preparing an experimental project in Port Vigilance to test the limits of this discovery. We have refitted a ''Surcouf-class submersible with internal etheric generators and a thin internal skeleton of Orichalcum. Early test results have shown a substantial increase in tensile strength and durability. It's not Talon Steel, but it's considerably better than conventional iron and alloys.'' Moreover, we have taken a leaf out of the Confederate Revolutionaries' book and fitted the submersible with a pneumatic drill on the ventral surface for the purposes of engaging other submarines. Full test results are attached to this report, but suffice it to say that results are very promising. Mass production of this design will likely prove impractical for the foreseeable future, as it is expensive and time-consuming to build, but we think active Crusader cells can be refitted with these ships within a few months, pending Council approval. Category:Units